This week, Ira spoke with Al Mancini, co-host of the popular “Food and Loathing” podcast, creator of the Las Vegas dining guide app, “Neon Feast,” and a special guest on “Milk Street Radio” at the Beverly Theater (June 10). In this episode of “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira,” Al talks about how he started writing about food after moving to Las Vegas; what he discovered about the culinary community; how chefs support each other, both in good times and bad; his famous mohawk; his podcast, which is a “passion project” and no pressure zone; why he started “Neon Feast” as a unique guide; the generational approach to taking pictures of your food at a restaurant; how he got involved in “Milk Street Live”; his neon news.vegas food blog, which also includes the interviews from his podcast ; and how COVID helped develop the local dining scene.
Al is a graduate of Seton Hall University and Brooklyn Law School, who began his career in journalism as a music reporter for ABC News Radio in 1996. He moved to Las Vegas to cover Southern Nevada for the network in 2001. Al has covered the Las Vegas dining scene for numerous publications since 2003.